Nikola Jokic Makes NBA History in Hawks-Nuggets

Jokic writes his name in history with a triple-double performance against Atlanta

It’s not very often that you can throw around the term “generational” in sports, because if used too much, it wouldn’t hold its value. In the NBA, there are really only a handful of generational talents that are playing in the game today. One of them happens to be playing in Denver, that being Nikola Jokic.

Despite being drafted in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft, Jokic has far surpassed the expectations that would’ve been set if he was even the first overall selection. With three league MVPs to his name and a good chance of earning another before the end of his career, he built upon his status among the all-time greats of this game with his performance against the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday night.

With his triple-double against the Hawks tonight, Jokic’s performance becomes the seventh-fastest triple-double in NBA history (in reference to player minutes). While an impressive feat, recording triple-double early in games is something he’s familiar with.

According to the Guinness World Records, Jokic has the fastest triple-double in NBA history with a time of just 14 minutes and 33 seconds, doing so on February 15th, 2018, in Denver’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks. To put that into perspective, that’s less time than the length of an NBA quarter (15 minutes).

The only other active players that have recorded faster triple-doubles than Jokic tonight include himself, Victor Wembanyama, Luka Doncic, and Jokic’s teammate Russell Westbrook.